


Noodles

by apathys_whore



Category: Original Work
Genre: Depression, Gen, Meaninglessness, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-07 03:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1114828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apathys_whore/pseuds/apathys_whore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone feels depressed while someone else cooks and is okay with meaninglessness.  A look at tiny lives in winter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Noodles

December. Not quite the depths of winter, but for the way the world feels it might as well be. December is an end, and January is a beginning. Each new year is born in death, fed upon the calcium of bones of those who did not survive, on the skeletal hands of trees, reaching hopelessly for the distant sun. They stood in the kitchen, fragile little lives. On the scale of the world, their lives are meaningless, their moments irrelevant. Their thoughts and feelings might as well not exist. The pot on the stove is steaming now as she tosses in the shredded greens. Pours in the chili paste. “It’s to keep the insides of your bones warm.” She says calmly. “Mine get cold frequently.” She adds. Next a measured amount of chicken powder. “You never use broth for this. Besides, the boxed kind always smells of ammonia.” A few drops of orange. “For the smell.” A shot of soy. Then the noodles, long and thing and slightly yellowed; the color of old bones. When it’s ready, she pours measured doses into two different bowls. She sets a pair of chopsticks on top of each. “It’s bad luck to lean them inside the bowl. I’m told it looks like the incense at a funeral.” She hands him the finished product. He takes the chopsticks and sets them inside the bowl. “I’m already dead.” He says in a distant voice. She kisses him on his scalp and says, with a smile, “All of us are, in some way or another.”

**Author's Note:**

> Supposedly if you set your chopsticks in your bowl it looks like funerary incense so it’s a social faux pas. But the internet might be lying to me. If you want some warm noodles:
> 
> One pack chuka soba noodles
> 
> 2 cups water
> 
> 1 ½ tsp chicken bullion
> 
> Shredded bok choy greens, stems optional (vegetables could be optional, add whatever you like)
> 
> 1 tsp chili garlic paste
> 
> Shot of soy sauce
> 
> Few drops orange extract (not necessary but if you don’t have it you’ll miss it)
> 
> Just cook it and eat it like ramen noodles.


End file.
